Fort Bragg man rearrested in November shooting case

A Fort Bragg man suspected of shooting and critically injuring another man who was trying to help the alleged shooter's girlfriend was rearrested in the case Friday after being released from jail more than two months ago, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.

Joel David Humecky, 41, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and domestic battery in the Nov. 2 incident, and was held under $505,000 bail. He was released Nov. 6 when the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office declined to file charges against him.

"We were unable to interview the victim for a significant amount of time in this case," said MCSO spokesman Greg Van Patten.

The victim, a 42-year-old Fort Bragg man, had gone to the aid of a friend who had contacted him via cell phone and told him Humecky had attacked her early on the morning of the incident, the MCSO reported previously.

A caller reported to the sheriff's dispatch center at 5:08 that morning that s/he heard gunshots and a woman yelling in the 30000 block of Simpson Lane.

Meaning to check on the woman, the friend drove to a piece of private property in the area where the couple were living in a 2000 Isuzu Rodeo and found her alone inside, according to the MCSO.

Humecky had walked away after the fight and reappeared near the vehicle shortly after his girlfriend's friend arrived. Not long after that, Humecky allegedly shot the man several times with a handgun, then ran away.

Detectives later that day found Humecky at a Walnut Street apartment complex in Fort Brag and arrested him.

The woman took her friend to the Mendocino Coast District Hospital, where he was later flown by air ambulance to a Santa Rosa area hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to the MCSO.

The woman told authorities that Humecky and her friend hadn't fought and that the shooting was "unprovoked," Van Patten stated previously.

Detectives spoke with the victim Dec. 18, after he was released from the hospital, and forwarded the case to the DA's Office for review, according to Van Patten. A warrant for Humecky's arrest was issued Jan. 2, he said, and Humecky was arrested at 4:10 p.m. Jan. 17.

Humecky is held at the Mendocino County Jail under $750,000 bail.

Tiffany Revelle can be reached at udjtr@ukiahdj.com, on Twitter @TiffanyRevelle or at 468-3523.